Posts Tagged ‘Zucchini Recipes’

Zucchini Bars

Friday, July 31st, 2020

 

My farm share has included zucchini now for a couple of weeks. I’ve put it in a lot of stir fries. Yesterday, however, I felt compelled to bake … so I made these easy bars or squares or brownies or whatever you’d like to call them. They’re light and chock full of the green stuff.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) melted sweet butter
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup sugar
1 egg. beaten
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup flour

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with foil and then grease and flour the foil.

Stir together the melted butter and the sugar, followed by the grated zucchini. Mix in the egg, stirring well to incorporate; then add the baking soda, the baking powder, the salt, and the cinnamon. Stir in the flour, and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the concoction comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Makes about 16 squares, depending on how big you cut them.

End of Season Ratatouille

Monday, September 14th, 2009
Ratatouille web
 
Here is another entry in the zucchini stakes–perhaps my last for this year. The little green gourds are beginning to be supplanted by their longer lasting fall cousins!
 
It pairs zucchini with other wonderful late-season vegetables, including eggplant, one of my all-time favorites.
 
This vegetable medley tastes lovely (and just a little spicy) by itself or over pasta. The formula here is meant only to get you started at the stove. If you have corn, add some kernels to the blend. If your herb garden has more oregano than basil, throw in some oregano. In short, let your garden and your pantry guide you.
 
 
Ingredients:
 
1 medium eggplant, cubed
extra-virgin olive oil as needed
1 large onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 to 3 bell peppers of differing colors (I used purple and green because that’s what I found at the farm stand!)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
2 small zucchini cubed, or 1 zucchini and 1 summer squash
2 large or 3 medium tomatoes
2 sprigs basil
2 sprigs parsley plus chopped parsley for garnish
 
Instructions:
 
Place the eggplant cubes in salted water to soak while you cook other ingredients.
 
In a 4-quart Dutch oven heat some olive oil. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add the peppers, pepper flakes, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and sauté, stirring, for at least 4 minutes more. Turn off the heat.
 
In a separate frying pan heat more oil and sauté the squash pieces for 4 to 5 minutes. Add a sprinkle of salt and throw the salted squash into the onion/pepper mixture. Drain the eggplant pieces and sauté them in q little more oil in the same pan you used for the squash. After about 4 minutes, add a tiny bit of salt, and toss them into the vegetable medley.
 
Add the tomatoes and the herb sprigs, stir, and cook all the vegetables over low heat for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. When you are ready to serve your ratatouille remove the wilted sprigs of herbs. Place the vegetables in a serving dish and toss chopped parsley overall.
 
Serves 4 to 6.
 

I love eggplant!

I love eggplant!

Lock Your Doors!

Friday, September 11th, 2009

zucchini cake web

 
My neighbor Jack, who read my recent rant about zucchini bashing, shared a zucchini anecdote with me the other day.
 
He was asked recently where he was living. When replied that he was in our small town of Hawley, he was told:
 
“Hawley’s a nice town. People don’t lock their doors there–except at this time of year. They’re afraid someone will come in and leave zucchini in the house.”
 
Here I try once more to redeem zucchini’s sinister reputation with a recipe.
 
Pam Matthews of Phillips, Maine, was one of my co-thespians (and friends) when she lived in western Massachusetts.
 
She sent me the moist, flavorful zucchini formula below. She says the recipe was originally meant to make zucchini bread, but she found it cakelike and decided to bake it in a Bundt pan instead of bread pans.
 
It makes a lovely coffee cake (or yes, sweet bread) on its own. You can also dress it up (as my young friend Maija did) with a little cream-cheese frosting. (The candy corn is not obligatory, although we had a lot of fun with it.)
 
 
Maija considers her candy placement.
Maija considers her candy placement.
 
Pam’s Zucchini Cake
 
Ingredients:
 
1 cup canola oil (or 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup softened butter)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I like these so I used a little extra)
1/2 cup raisins (ditto)
1/4 cup finely chopped pineapple (optional: this wasn’t in Pam’s recipe, but I had it in the house so I threw it in, and it worked)
3/4 cup shredded coconut (again you could use a little more; I LOVE COCONUT)
2 cups grated zucchini, drained in a dishtowel
 
Instructions:
 
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
 
Cream together the oil and sugar; then beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in the vanilla, followed by the cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda.
 
Stir in all but 1 tablespoon of the flour. Add that tablespoon of flour to the walnuts and raisins and mix well. Stir them into the batter, along with the pineapple (if you are using it) and the coconut. Fold in the zucchini.
 
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake it until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Serves 10 to 12.
 
icezcakeweb

Catching Some Zs

Friday, September 4th, 2009

zucchini web

 
How do I love zucchini? Let me count the ways….
 
I know zucchini don’t always come in for a lot of praise. In fact, I tend to think of them as the fruitcake of summer.
 
At Christmas the fruitcake bashers jest that fruitcake is so heavy it can be used as a doorstop. In early September the jokesters snicker that country dwellers are so frustrated with their bumper crops of zucchini that as soon as the sun sets they tiptoe around and leave the things on their neighbors’ doorsteps.
 
It’s true that even one little zucchini vine can go crazy if left untended. Gardeners who forget to check their patch for a couple of days end up with vegetables the size of baseball bats instead of the tender little green gourds that inspired the Italian name “zucchini,” which means ”little squash.”
 
(Actually, in Italian the word would be “zucchine.” I hate to be overly pedantic, but I was an editor for years so I’m prone to linguistic nitpicking.)
 
If you remember to check your zucchini patch frequently, however, you’ll be rewarded with small, curvy cylinders that are highly versatile.
 
They cook quickly, especially if you just fry slices in a little butter and olive oil and toss in a few herbs and a little salt and pepper.
 
Grated zucchini can lend vitamin A and moisture to soups, sauces, breads, brownies, cakes, and casseroles.
 
You may also use zucchini to make pickles or relish and stretch summer’s bounty throughout the year.
 
Zucchini are cheap, and they’re good for you. As my grandmother used to say, “What’s not to like?”
 
So–if any of my neighbors would like to leave a few zucchini on my doorstep, I say, “Bring ‘em on!” I didn’t grow any myself this year, and I have several zucchini recipes to share with readers. Here is the first.
 
I learned to make these zucchini pancakes last year when I was working as a demo chef at Bloomingdale’s in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Pat Money, the Calphalon cookware representative, suggested that they would show off her pans nicely. They certainly did! I have changed the recipe a little from Pat’s version (a characteristic failing of mine), but I’ve kept the essence of the pancakes intact.
 
As you can see, they’re on the fattening side–so make them when you have a crowd coming over. They’ll disappear.
 
Zucchini Pancakes
 
Ingredients:
 
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (add a little more if you like)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
lots of freshly ground pepper
2 medium zucchini, grated and squeezed dry in a dish towel (about 4 cups)
1 cup flour
extra-virgin olive oil as needed for frying
 
Instructions:
 
In a bowl, combine the eggs, canola oil, onion, garlic, cheese, baking powder, salt, and pepper.
 
Stir in the zucchini, followed by the flour.
 
Pour enough olive oil into the bottom of a nonstick frying pan to coat the bottom of the pan. Heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat until it shimmers.
 
Place heaping soup spoons full of the zucchini batter into the pan, about 4 to 5 at a time. Flatten them slightly and fry them until they are golden around the edges and can be turned, about 3 minutes. Turn them over and fry them until they are golden on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes longer. If you need to add a bit more oil during this process, do so.
 
Drain the pancakes on paper towels and serve them warm. Makes 25 to 30 small pancakes.
 
zucchini pancake web